What to do?

[Pinot's Mom]

We have a problem. Pinot is essentially an indoor kitty. As many of you know, she has "romps" in the garden, which are well supervised. She occasionally catches wildlife, but just "gifts" it to her Mom, nothing serious.

The problem....
The family across the way have three kitties and a dog. The dog (buddy) is on a leash, no problem there. The kitties are all turned loose at night. I've never been a big fan of this; it's also against the law in this county and against the neighborhood covenants. That being said...we have one of the kitties that has decided to make late night visits to Pinot at the back basement (and deck level) slider door. Pinot goes BALLISTIC! We have to bring her upstairs several times before she calms down. No one in this house is used to this - it's pretty calm around here.

Our relationship with these people is really cordial, their kids love it over here, what to do? How do you tell someone to keep their cats in? Our other neighbor, Dan (who has two indoor kitties), has also reported his birdfeeders (which he's very fond of) have been terrorized by the neighbor kitties. I don't want to cause a problem, but....

[Karen]

I would talk to them tomorrow, mention the rule against cats being outside at night, and explain it is causing problems for you, as well as other neighbors. Ask why they don't keep them in, and if it's allergies, or whatever the excuse, offer alternatives - basement for the evening, or cats not allowed in bedroom, or gated into the kitchen/bathroom - whatever seems appropriate!

[krazyaboutkatz]

I agree with Karen. You have to let them know that their cats are causing problems and that as you said it's against the law in your county and against your neighborhood covenants. Hopefully they'll understand and keep their cats indoors from now on. Good luck.

[catmandu]

We have some Big Toms who come to visit the feeding stations.
Theres Sir Lawrence the Tabby, Spunky Moose the Deuce the Gray Tabby and Colossolus the Huge Reddish Brown Cat as well as Pouncer Roccalno and the Shadow Porchies who come at night.
I would prefer that the really hungry Cats get the food, but these people are pt heads in the sad sense and don't care.
Good Luck with your roaming Cats problem!!

[cassiesmom]

I'm with Karen- let the law and your neighborhood covenant be "the bad guy".

Could you please give Pinot a big hug from me, too?

[Pinot's Mom]

***sigh***

OK, so Coop mentioned the grey kitty to the neighbor, they seem to have taken care of that kitty.

We were away this weekend, came back this afternoon, we're relaxing watching football, and howling commences at the kitchen slider door (which is open to the screen). I came in, turned the light on (expecting fully to see the grey one), lo and behold, THERE'S A TABBY ON THE DECK!! A very VOCAL tabby! Our neighbor doesn't own a tabby. Chased that one away...

Coop came down and said, "you know, hon, this is your fault." "These kitties hear about the Catmobile trips, they just want to come along and have fun. They hear about Pinot, know she's the queen of the household & they want to meet her."

[Lilith Cherry]

At least your hubby has a good sense of humour! Is the the tabby friendly? Any idea where he came from yet?

[kitten645]

Perhaps Pinot needs to grant "royal summons" where select kitties are given an audience with Queen Pinot?